Previews

Rocky Legends

Spiffy:

More fighters; improved graphics; online play.

Iffy:

Tough to compete with Fight Night.

Ubi Soft is staying true to the Rocky series and is releasing a sequel to its Rocky videogame called Rocky Legends. The usual assortment of upgrades is included, as well as more significant additions like online play. While EA Sports' Fight Night has rocked video-game boxing harder than Antonio Tarver rocked Roy Jones this past weekend, Ubi is hoping to make Rocky Legends a more exaggerated, arcade-like experience that will appeal to the millions of people that have watched Rocky movies.
As expected, the visuals have been improved. Even though what I saw wasn't anywhere near complete, the animations, character models (double the polygon count of the old ones), and venues already look better than the ones found in the original game. The movement seems more exaggerated than its predecessor's too, with overstated knockouts that really make you feel like you're kicking butt or getting your butt kicked. There are also super punches that look like they're out of a fighting game, rather than a boxing sim. And really, that's the smart way for this game to go: less realism and more larger-than-life action.

I pity the fool that don't by my game!

The controls are identical to the first game's, though everything has been tightened up a bit. I only played Rocky Legends for a few minutes, but it definitely felt improved. There was too much of a lag between button presses and punches in the first game. In the build I played, this was less of an issue. The developers also promise to increase the difficulty and improve the AI -- two issues that made the first game a cakewalk.
The cast of characters has been increased. The highlight of the group is Ludmilla Drago from Rocky IV, who was portrayed by the incredibly leggy Brigitte Nielsen. You can now play as Rocky, Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, and Ivan Drago in career mode. You start off as an amateur and train your character to championship level. The training games are pretty entertaining. The best of which is the chicken-catching game that's straight out of Rocky II. The coolest part is that there are now alternative endings using reedited versions of the movies. So you can find out what would happen if Creed, Lang, or Drago actually beat Rocky.
In addition to the movie clips, you'll also hear many of the memorable songs and tracks from the movies. While Bill Conti's soundtrack is universally known, the real glory belongs to Survivor. The ultra-cheesy band from the '80s did their best work for the Rocky movies and you get to soak up the Hollywood pop as you play that game.
The Xbox version is the real champ here, with its superior graphics and Xbox Live play. Even if you're not down with the Xbox, both versions of the game promise to offer an entertaining boxing experience that's a bit kitschier than it is realistic. Plus you get stare at a digitized version of Brigitte Nielsen.